Hayce’s thumb resumed its slow caress at Ehlian’s hip, just beneath the ticklish skin. Then, his gaze drifted to the torn photo, lingering on the ragged edge where his brother had been cut out. “I can’t prove it.”
Ehlian waited. And waited. As the silence stretched, it became painfully clear Hayce wasn’t going to give him anything else. Not context. Not certainty. Barely even an admission.
“Are you really not giving me more?” he asked quietly. Then, before Hayce could shut him down, he pushed one step further. “And if you know it was him… how could he possibly fake your core signature?”
Hayce looked away. His eyes went distant for a second before hardening again. “I don’t know.”
No. He knew. He fuckingknew.
And if he knew, then why hadn’t he used it to get out? Ehlian would have fought tooth and nail for freedom if there had been even the slightest chance.
Ehlian wondered if he could slip in one more question as he studied the family photo. Hayce’s sister stood out—not because she didn’t belong, but because her features were sharp, almost severe. There was something cold in her brown eyes, an unyielding focus.
“Your sister looks… intimidating,” Ehlian said.
Hayce let out a quiet scoff. “She is intimidating.”
Despite the lightness in his tone, Ehlian felt a flicker of unease ripple through Hayce’s power—something he’d never sensed from him before. Ehlian wondered if Hayce even realised how often he let his guard slip around him lately.
“You worry your brother will hurt—”
“That’s enough questions for today,” Hayce said. “Aric already told you more than I would’ve allowed.”
Ehlian’s mouth twisted with disappointment. Aric had told him practically nothing. Not just that—the one question Haycelet him ask was worth little. If anything, Ehlian felt further from the truth than before.
Hayce’s thumb brushed across the unhappy curve of Ehlian’s mouth, smoothing the disappointment away. “Don’t do that.”
Ehlian let out a soft sigh. Fine. He would respect Hayce’s wishes, even if he didn’t understand them. Hayce didn’t even try to prove his innocence. He didn’t care what Ehlian thought of him.
Ehlian handed the photo back. Hayce slipped it between the pages again and returned to reading, though his gaze remained unfocused.
Ehlian felt oddly lucky. He still had someone who supported him from a distance, someone who hadn’t abandoned him entirely. Hayce, meanwhile, had been left behind by everyone.
His eyes slid once more to the wordsurvivedin Willian’s letter.
“I’m sure she will survive too,” Ehlian said softly, resting his hand over Hayce’s where it still lay on his hip, their fingers threading together. “Your sister.”
Hayce was quiet for a moment. Then, “She would like you.”
Those sudden words were such an intimate declaration they staggered Ehlian.
“You think?” he asked, voice a bit hoarse.
“Yes.” The certainty in Hayce’s voice was just as staggering, because Ehlian wasn’t even sure that Hayce liked him at all. Ehlian was stubborn to the core and most alpha he ended up in a relationship weren’t exactly thrilled about this side of his. But if Hayce thought his sister would like him, would that mean that Hayce liked him too? A little bit…?
Shouldn’t Ehlian thank him for surviving half a year in prison? Without Hayce, who knew where he would be now.
Maybe there was one thing good about this rotten place. A glimmer of light in the darkness. A quiet corner of safety here with Hayce. Ehlian was crazy. Utterly crazy for having such thoughts. Everything between them was fake… right?
But sometimes, in moments like these, it felt all too real.
Hayce met his eyes over the edge of the book, and the familiar silence between them settled.
Ehlian swallowed thickly. “Should I focus only on you?”
Hayce lowered his book slowly, his calm mask now laced with something more serious. Their gazes locked, almost inseparable, making the room blur around the edges. The amber flecks in Hayce’s eyes glowed faintly, beckoning like soft flames in the dark, pulling him into their gravity. They seemed to reach into Ehlian’s core, igniting it, setting it on fire. The bond point on his neck burned—
“Ehlian,” Hayce’s warning voice sounded distant, like it was coming through water.
